A Swedish design studio aims to bring new functionality to a century-old bridge in Stockholm, fitting 50 residential units into the framework below while creating a pedestrian path and linear park on the paved thoroughfare above.

In many cases, new bridges are constructed while their predecessors remain active, so why not use the old adjacent one for something new instead of carefully dismantling it? That’s what Urban Nouveau asks (and answers).

“Gamla Lidingöbron is unique and its cultural historical value increases with time,” say the architects. “It is more resourceful to fix the existing structure than to create tonnes of garbage by demolishing it. The bridge contains public memory and is an important symbol for Stockholm.”

Selling the newly built and centrally located two-story homes (with wonderful views) would bring in the revenue required to renovate the structure for its new use over the next few years while the new bridge is constructed. These units would also take advantage of the existing truss system holding up the bridge structure, requiring less energy and effort to build in the first place.

Getting this idea to go viral could, as it did with the High Line in NYC, help it become a reality. “Rather than conservation, this project is about restoring and developing a historic structure as a way to save it from demolition. After publishing our proposal in local media we received mostly positive comments from the local community. A public debate has started. With global support we will bring this project to reality.”

You barely have to stop on your way down the slope to grab a burger and fries at the McDonalds ski-through window, located on a popular resort in northwest Sweden. The location has been open since the mid-‘90s and can seat 140 people inside, though most seem to choose the grab-and-go option. Why bother taking off your gear when you can just chow down and then hop right back on the lift?

Meanwhile, in the small Swedish town of Pitea, locals get only four hours of sunlight a day in the winter, with temperatures hovering around minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit. That means most residents use snowmobiles to get around, leading to bizarre scenes like the one pictured below.

As weird as the McSki McDonalds might be in comparison to the ones in your neighborhood, it doesn’t even break the top 10 most bizarre locations of the fast food chain around the world. In addition to the world’s largest McDonalds, a UFO-shaped location and a brandless, minimalist ‘Quarter Pounder’ experiment in Tokyo, there’s the rotting carcass of a ‘McBarge’ floating in an inlet in Canada.

Set in an alternate-reality Sweden of the 1980s and 90s, these stunning paintings remix pastoral landscapes with futuristic robots, telling a story of a world that could have been. Robots roam alongside dinosaurs while people go about their everyday lives in surreal juxtapositions that seem all the more real for their everyday contents.

Simon Stålenhag‘s artwork has spread like digital wildfire across the internet over the last few years, and the announcement of a pair of English-language books (Tales from the loop) of his images and stories has been met with overwhelming support – his crowdfunding campaign has already raised more than 25 times is modest original goal.

The backstory could be the plot for an upcoming science fiction movie if fans have their way: “In the 1950s, the Swedish government orders the construction of a large particle accelerator. The state agency RIKSENERGI is tasked with developing this massive project. In 1969 the The Facility For Research In High Energy Physics is ready, located deep below the pastoral Mälaröarna-countryside. The local population soon calls it THE LOOP.”

“The side effects of the project are dramatic. Strange sightings and bizarre rumours taints the scientific image of The Loop. In the shadow of the weird machines filling the countryside, life continues as normal. The kids of Mälaröarna grew up living above the technological marvel of The Loop, but for them it was just a part of their very ordinary lives. Until strange beasts from another time showed up, that is.”

Fathoms beyond traditional boat taxis, this modular water bus proposal for Stockholm bridges critical gaps within the current public transit system while also making boarding faster and transfers easier.

Developed by the KTH Royal Institute of Technology’s Department of Aeronautical and Vehicle Engineering, the Waterway 365 project fills in transportation voids, in part by taking the quickest and most direct routes possible across the water. Featuring wide back and side exits as well as, the solution is also bike-friendly for rapid boarding and disembarking. Adding versatility to the design, modular detachable sections make the approach more adaptable to different passenger volumes.

These water buses are also designed to run year-round, operating through winter freezes. To save materials and energy, the designers eschewed steel reinforced hulls in favor of lighter metal. The resulting vehicles are structured to handle some ice but are ultimately to be paired with ice-breaking plow boats as needed in extreme conditions. Initially envisioned for the country’s biggest city, the idea is to deploy these to bridge other urban waterways around Sweden as well.

From the design study: “A city comprised of islands, Stockholm seems a natural for the concept of water transit. Door-to-door travel time on at least one typical trip across town, the study shows, could potentially be reduced by one-third.” Connecting essential nodes, the idea is to reduce congestion as well as energy consumption in the long run.

Water-based public transit already exists in many places, including the canals of Venice, but generally utilizes either flat-style ferries or streamlined boats. These approaches represent two extremes that this new water bus design aims to navigate between – the ease of getting on and off, on the one hand, versus speed and handling of the vehicle on the other.

No hoax, it is happening  – 20,000 occupants of Kiruna, Sweden, are being forced to pull up stakes and relocate their entire urban center to avoid having it fall off the face of the Earth.

The existing settlement is situated alongside a vast mine that fuels the local economy, but which also responsible for the huge fissures snaking their way toward the heart of the city. As the miners dig deeper, an increasing area of ground is threatened with collapse – at least 3,000 buildings are not expected to survive. Starting immediately, a multi-year effort is underway to shift everything away from the danger zone.

Relocating a whole urban populace is no small feat. As reported by the BBC, “The number of people involved in a project of this scale exceeds the thousands and includes city planners, architects, landscape designers, biologists, urban designers, civil engineers, demolition and construction experts and builders, as well as social anthropologists.” In some cases, whole buildings (like a century-old church) will be deconstructed, moved and reassembled on new sites.

The pressure has been building for some time with citizens having to make difficult decisions about buying real estate and building businesses with this growing threat looming in the backs of their minds. In a way, the definitive decision to break ground on a new town center is a relief to the population, who can now plan their lives around a new known reality. In some ways, too, it is a chance to start over – to build a city from scratch with lessons learned from the existing layout.

Still, there are many questions without clear answers, including: how does the city evaluate the parcels held by existing landowners who have to move, be they residents or business owners? “The Stockholm-based architects White Arkitekter AB, which won the contract to design the new Kiruna, envisages a denser city centre with a greater focus on sustainability, pedestrians and public transport than automobiles.” With a freshly-constructed center, one thing is certain: everything will change – the focal point for the entire built environment of the region is shifting and the future of the city remains uncertain.